Railway splice-bar



(No Model.)

M. SELLERS.

RAILWAYSPLIGB BAR.

Patented Sept. 25, 1883.

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UNITED STATES PATENT CFFIcE,

MORRIS SELLERS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY SPLICE-BAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 285,688, datedSeptember 25, 1883.

Application filed June 23, 1883. (No model.)

I0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MoRRIs SELLnRs, of Chicago, county of Cook, State ofIllinois, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement inRailway Splice-Bars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, concise, and exact description thereof, referencebeinghadtotheaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, inwhich-like letters indicating like parts Figure 1 is a view in elevationof a railtrack joint illustrative of my present invention. thereof inthe plane of the bolts; and Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are vertical transversesectionalviews in the planes of the lines a; m, x w, and x 51:

respectively.

My invention relates to an improvement in railway splice-bars such asare intended for use in uniting or splicing together the adjacent orabutting ends of rails of railway-tracks, and more particularly relatesto one prominent style of splice-bars described in Letters Patent of theUnited States N 0. 170,384, dated November 23, 1875', granted to RichardLong. The splice-bar described in this patent possesses, as I have foundby practical use, many of the most desirable and important featuresessential to a device of this kind; but in order to adapt it moreperfectly to the work in view I have added to said bar the furtherfeature'fof a comparatively broad-edged bearing extending along theupper and lower edges of each splice, and so beveled or shaped that theupper edge thereof, when in position, shall bear on the under side ofthe head of the rail, and the lower edge shall bearion the upper face ofthe flange of the rail. The breadth of this beveled edge along the bardescribed may be varied at pleasure; but I prefer to make it as broad,or approximately of the same breadth, throughout the entire length ofthe bar as ordinarily may be given to the middle or re-enforced part;or, in other words, while I reduce the thickness of the body of thesplice-bar at successive points from the middle toward each end, asrepresented in the drawings and substantially represented in Longspatent, above referred to, I make the upper and lower edges of the barof a thickness corresponding exactly or approximately to the thicknessof the middle part of the bar.

Fig, 2 is a horizontal sectional view The construetionis represented inthe drawings, whereA represents the middle thickened or re-enforcedportion of the bar. B represents the port-ion next adjacent, which ismade somewhat less in thickness; and 0 represents the end of the bar,which is its thinnest part. All these parts are to be proportioned withreference to the vertical strain to which the bar is subject in ordinaryuse, such strain being, of course, greatest in the middle and lesstoward the ends; but instead of making each of the parts A B C of auniform or of a nearly uniform thickness throughout, so that the edgebearing of each bar on the under side of the railhead shall be equal orapproximately equal transversely to the thickness of that part of the 7bar, as in the Long patent, and similarly along the lower bearing of theinside bar, I make the outer bar with a bead or fillet, a, along itsupper outer edge, and the inside bar with a like bead or fillet, a,along its upper outer edge, and also with a like head or fillet, a,along its lower outer edge. The upper or bearing sides of the fillets aa are made to the same or approximately the same bevel as upper edges ofthe bars proper, so that they will give a broad and firm bearing beneathand against the rail-l1eads, and the fillets are made of such size thatsuch bearing will be of the same or approximately the same widththroughout the bar from end to end; or, in other words, by adding thefillets I get the same or nearly the same width of edge bearing in thereduced parts C B of the bar as in the middle and most heavilyre-enforced part A; and I follow the same rule of construction asregards the fillet a. If, in making the outside bar, it be made with theflange (Z, as is sometimes done, such flange takes the place of a lowerfillet on such bar; but in the making of outside bars, where such flangeis not desired, I make the outside bar with fillet a the same as theinside bar. In this way I secure a more perfect embodiment of theobjects in view in the construction of a joint of this kind with butaslight increase in the amount of metal employed.

In further statement of the objects I have in view it may be added thatone main element of utility secured in reducing the thickness of theends of the bar as compared with the mid dle results from the fact thatwhile securing the desired strength immediately at the joint,

I interfere as little as possible with the natural and necessaryflexibility of the rail under the weight of the passing train at pointsback of or away from the extreme rail ends, so that the waves ofdeflection caused by the passage of a heavy train shall be practicallyuniform from rail end to rail end without a material break thereof atthe joint. If the entire bar be reduced in thickness, asin the Longpatent, the wear or loss by friction on the beveled upper and loweredges is the greatest, of course, at the thinnest part, and,of course,asthe firmness of bearing at or toward the ends of the bars is therebylessened, the regularity or uniformity of the waves of deflection is tothat extentlessened or destroyed. Hence, by adding the fillets, as abovedescribed, I keep such wear uniform from end to end of each bar, and Ipreserve the broad bearing by thickening the edges, as above described,without mate rlally interfering with the desired flexibility orelasticity of the ends of the bar.

These bars are so shaped and proportioned that their inner faces willnot ordinarily hug closely or come in contact with the web of the rails,but so that the lines of contact shall be along the upper and loweredges of the bars. ,Then,as the beveled edges wear away, as they must inuse to a greater or less degree, the strength and flexibility referredto may still be secured and preserved by simply tightening up the nuts011 the track-bolts, so as to bring the edges'of the bar again intoclose engagement with the under side of the head and the upper face ofthe flange of the rail.

I claim herein as my invention- 1. As an improvement in a splicebar madeof different thicknesses at different points of its length, and with aflange, (I, along its base or lower edges, a bead or fillet, a, alongits upper edge, adapted tovgive,when in use, the same, or approximatelythe same, width of edge bearing along the thinner portions of the bar asalong its thicker or re-enforced portion, substantially as set forth.

2. A railway splice-bar made of different thicknesses at differentpoints of its length, and having beads or fillets a a along the edges ofits thinner portions, substantially as set. forth, I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

MORRIS SELLERS.

XVitnesscs:

JACOB GREMLI, J r., FRANK J. LoEscH.

